rpmmutant said:
I ask because I was threatened by LAPD to be removed from a football game at a private school.
Here's the story:
A player was injured on the kickoff to start the second half. He apparently injured his neck, just hit awkwardly and collapsed on the football field. An emergency fire truck and an ambulance were called on to the field. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital for observation.
All the while I am video taping the fire truck and the emergency personnel tending to the injured player. For some reason, LAPD was swarming the game. It was a big game, but it didn't warrant the police presence that was there. At any rate, one of the LAPD officers threatens to kick me off the football field for taking video. He starts hassling me, demands to see my credentials, tells me I have no business taking pictures of an injured football player.
Turns out the kid is OK. Still I wonder if LAPD or any police can legitimately kick a reporter off private school property. Or was this particular police officer just being a jerk?
Just hearing your side of the story, I hope that you were calm during this situation.
You were within your rights to video what was going on. That is your job. Getting confrontational wouldn't have helped your situation. Take down the officer's information (name, badge, etc.). Report the situation to your editor and then I'm sure a company lawyer would be called in to take the proper steps in filing any grievance for you and the paper.
As long as you were not impeding the job of the EMS personnel and the police, you should've been fine.
Who won the game?
